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Waiting for Godot  By  cover art

Waiting for Godot

By: Samuel Beckett
Narrated by: Sean Barrett,David Burke,Terence Rigby,Nigel Anthony
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Publisher's summary

There is now no doubt that not only is Waiting for Godot the outstanding play of the 20th century, but it is also Samuel Beckett's masterpiece. Yet it is both a popular text to be studied at school and an enigma. The scene is a country road. There is a solitary tree. It is evening. Two tramp-like figures, Vladimir and Estragon, exchange words. Pull off boots. Munch a root vegetable. Two other curious characters enter. And a boy. Time passes. It is all strange yet familiar. Waiting for Godot casts its spell as powerfully in this audiobook recording as it does on stage.

©Beckett Estate (P)2005 Naxos Audiobooks

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

The Joys of Existential and Spiritual Uncertainty

Ah, what a delightfully bleak, humorously horrible, grotesquely sublime, slapstickishly nihilistic, transcendently claustrophobic, bracingly despairing, and entertainingly frustrating play Waiting for Godot is! It's perfect.

And I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of this audiobook version. The British actors, Sean Barrett, David Burke, Terence Rigby, and Nigel Anthony, are excellent, bringing Beckett's text and characters alive with wit, heart, and perfect timing. The two friends Estragon and Vladimir are an appealing pair of morosely and stubbornly heroic fools: ever waiting in the wasteland for the never appearing Godot, ever complaining about and attempting to understand their situation, never mustering the courage to escape it, repeatedly forgetting their past, playing off each other's words like suicidal comedians, sometimes arguing, and often treating each other with moving affection. There is something strangely comforting about their never-ending failures. As if an adult Charlie Brown were living with Eeyore instead of Snoopy. Pozzo and Lucky, the foil-pair of Estragon and Vladimir, are morbidly fascinating in their abusive master-slave relationship.

Here are a few of the many great moments in the audiobook: when Lucky "thinks," when Estragon and Vladimir pass their hats and Lucky's back and forth between them, when the boy angel delivers his messages (that Godot will surely come tomorrow!), when Estragon and Vladimir "abuse" each other and then make up, when Estragon and Vladimir debate helping Pozzo up, and when Pozzo makes his woeful speech, "They give birth astride of a grave, the light gleams an instant, then it's night once more."

Waiting for Godot (like any play), of course, is a visual work of art best experienced performed live on stage. However, if you are unable to see it like that, listening to this audiobook would be the next best thing, and a wonderful experience in itself.

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25 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Godot is here

This is a very creditible performance of a must-listen play, with the humor and tragedy and what I can only call the surealistic realism of Beckett at his best.

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16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Pretentious

I am probably just an ignorant philistine but I thought this was dreadful. If this is the outstanding play of the 20th century then I at least have a clearer understandng of why I seldom visit the theatre. I am sure that it is, at some existential level, trying to tell me something but any work of literature that needs a seperate work to explain what it is trying to say has failed as far as I am concerned. For me the only compensation was that it was only 2 hours long but I would still rather have my 2 hours back please.

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14 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

The best. Period.

I know no other play to be better than this. I enjoyed reading it so much in high school, that I jumped at the occasion to take it with me wherever I go. This tragicomedy is a must for every person, everywhere!

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11 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great...but have the play in front of you

This reading is great for return readers, but first-timers may be confused by the omission of some of the stage direction. Helps to have the play in front of you.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Maybe better as a viewed play

Maybe I am just a philistine but just to listen to this play; I haven't read it or watched it yet. But just to listen to this play didn't really spellbound me.
It was a little tedious to wait w/ the characters, well voiced as they were. This just didn't do it for me.

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6 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Perhaps I need a second listen

Theatre friends of mine have always raved about Godot and I finally got around to listening. Yes, there are humorous moments and it has the “Who’s on First” + “Groundhog Day” aspect to it, but by and large I found it less than thrilling. The actors are pros but with nicknames and similar voices it was a bit hard to follow.

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3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

The tragecomedy

Hilarious. Haunting. The myth of sisyphos meets Laurel & Hardy. Very good actors, very good production.

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    1 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

The emperors new cloths!

The emperors new cloths!

This play is subject to interpretation because it is just garbage.

It is possible to project onto it concepts of psychology, philosophy, religion, and many have done so.....but there is nothing here.

That is why for over half a century Becket refused to explain it.

There is no explanation.

Skip this one.

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2 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

I didn't really get it

Waiting for Godot

Play adaptation to book as well done, but not exactly well suited to the medium. I suspect some of the humor was lost at 2.5 speed. Still, and interesting experiment in absurdism and has left me with a few haunting images.

But I didn't really understand what was going on. I feel like the whole thing was overburdened with allegory and quipy dialogue and I didn't get much out of it.

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1 person found this helpful